Aquatic toy



y 22, 1952 c. E. SNOWDEN 2,604,055

AQUATIC TOY Filed July 13, 1949 INVENTOR.

C'HAEL Es -ISNO wpE/v,

Patented July 22, 1952 AQUATIC TOY Charles E. Snowden, Pittsburgh, Ba.

Application J 1113113, 1949, Serial No. 104,517

2 Claims.

.. 1 This invention relates to toys and has for its general object to provide an improved aquatic toy employing boats or floats born on a flowin stream of water and carried thereby in a circuitous or other form of continuous path in imitation of full size amusement devices of the type.

It is another object of the invention to provide for causing water to flow in a waterway or trough without interfering with the travel-of the-floats and to maintain an unobstructed path for the travel of the floats.

Another object'of the'invention is to provide a relatively still or quiescent portion in the flowing stream of water in which the floats may come to a stop preferably at the starting point of travel, in imitation of full size amusement devices of this type. 3

Other objects of the invention will appear in the hereinafter specific description of the construction and advantages of the invention,

The invention consists in:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a toy illustratin the features of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail perspective'view of the paddle wheel arrangement for causing the water to flow along the trough or waterway.

Figure 31s a detailperspective view of one of the boats or floats.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, there has been shown a plan view of an open top trough 1, constituting the channel or waterway of the present invention. It will, of course, be understood that the shape of the waterway may be varied at will, but it should be in the general form of a continuous circuit so that the boats or floats 2 may travel around the waterway repeatedly. Water is employed in the trough of a depth to properly carry the floats and to accommodate the fins 3 which extend transversely across the bottom of the float so that the fins may not drag on'the bottom of the trough and impede the travel of the floats.

For the purpose of causing the .water to flow in a stream along the trough, there is provided a water propeller, shown in the embodiment in the drawing as a paddle Wheel 4 located exteriorly of the trough and mounted to rotate on a horizontal axis 5 in a by-pass formed by one side Wall of the trough and another wall suitably spaced from the trough and between which the propeller wheel is rotatably mounted and in which the journal or shaft 5 is mounted. While the propeller wheel could be mounted at the outer side of the trough, it is preferred to dispose it at the inner side thereof so as not to increase the overall width of the toy. As shown in the drawing, a port or opening 8 is formed in the inner wall of the trough so as tozprovide communication between the trough and the by-pass for the flow of Water from the trough into the by-pass at one side of the propeller wheel. At the opposite side of the propeller wheel, an exit opening 9 is provided in the inner wall of the trough for the flow ofwater'from the by-Dass to the trough A. Thus, water is drawn by thewater propeller from the-trough through the inlet opening 8 into the by-pass, thence through or under the wheel to the opposite side thereof and then out through the exit opening 9 back into the trough so as to provide a continuous flow of Water along the trough, into and through the by-pass and then back to the trough. Of course, all of the water does not pass through the bypass. Some water remains in that part of the trough which is between the inlet and outlet 9. This portion of the water is still or quiescent or not flowing, for a purpose as will hereinafter be explained. It is preferred to have a plurality of exit openings 9, three such opening having been shown in the drawing. Each opening is provided with a vane l9 disposed entirely outside of the water way so as nott'o obstruct the waterway and are shown in the drawing aslocatedwithin the by-pass. Each vane is-given an inclined disposition such as will provide a jet of water traveling in a direction inclined towards the right so as to provide for circulating the water in the trough to theright fromthejet As shown, the

direction of flow of the water is counter-clockwise; but the toy may be arrangedto give the water a clockwise circulation, .if desired, merely by rotating the wheel 4 in a clockwise direction and interchanging the positions of the inlet 8 and outlet 9. Each vane is adjustable to vary the angle thereof for controlling the flow of water through the exit opening. As shown, the vanes are formed by the material-displacedfrom the inner wall of the trough, which may. be ofssheet metal, and so the vanes may be bent to assure the desired angles. Other ways of mounting and adjusting the vanes may, of course, be employed.

By drawing water from the waterway and then forcing it back into thewaterway at a predetermined distance beyond the point where. it was withdrawn, there will be a still quiet 01'' quiescent volume of water in the trough between the inlet 8 andthe outlet 9 'which'isutilized in the following manner. 1 i

It will, of course, be understood that the Water in the trough flows like'a'stream' along the trough from the water exit '9 around to theright and 3 follows the trough in a circuit back to the inlet 8, carrying the boats or floats along with it. When a float, traveling from the left, such as A, reaches the still portion of water in the trough between the inlet 8 and exit 9, it will stop because there is no flow of water to move along the float. Then another float B will come along, contact the stern of the stationary float and push it to the position C and so two floats will now come to a stop as indicated at B and C as though waiting for passengers. Thereafter another float such as A, will come along and push floats B and C forwardly until the front vane of float C is acted upon by the jet or jets of Water flowing out of the outlet 9 and thus push the float G into the flowin stream of water where it will be carried around.

the trough in a circuit until it again reaches the still portion of water in the trough between the inlet 8 and the outlet 9 where it will again come to a stop as if waiting for passengers. Thus, each float will be carried around the trough by the flowing stream of water therein in a continuous circuit, stopping however as explained so as to give the impression of awaiting passengers. The action is entirely automatic and does not require any manual control, so. long as the water is flowing in a circuit in the trough.

Any preferred means may be provided for actuating the water propeller 4, such as a small elec-. tric motor H suitably connected to the shaft 5 of the water wheel. Other ways of driving the wheel may be provided, such as a hand crank or ratchet arrangement suitably connected to the shaft. 5.

The boats or floats shown in the drawing are merely conventional: Obviously, they may be of any desired design and size and suitably ornamented. The trough will, of course, be of such a size and shape as to accommodate the floats and to contain water enough to properly float the boats. There is no loss of water occasioned by the operation of the toy, but, of course, fresh water may be supplied from time to time as occasion demands.

At least threeboats or floats are desirable for the effective operation of this toy as illustrated in the drawing, as'th'e ports are so spaced in the present embodiment of the invention. as to provide a still body of water of a length to accommodate two boats at a time, the third boat being required to push the two boatsand thereby project the foremost into the path of the'jet or jets of water issuing from the outlet '9 so that said jet or jets may act on the vane of said boat and force the boat into the flowing stream. of water beyondthe jets. The third boat then takes the place of the second boat. and the latter then becomes the foremost boat. It will. be noted that each boat has two fins so spaced that after the front fin haspassed beyond the influence of the flowing streamof. water and into the body of still water, the flowing water will be acting on the rear fln so as to effectually push the boat entirely into the body of still water where the boat will come to a stop.

Animportant feature of the invention resides in so proportioning the length of each boat and the distance between the inlet 8 and the outlet 9 that the jets of water flowing from the outlet 9 strike one inclined side of the tapered bow of the foremost boat tangentially or at least at an inclination such that the jets of water tend to holdthe boat stationary instead of moving it forwardly. Thus, the. two boats will remain stationary, eliminating the necessity of providing some other means for that purpose. The forward fin 3 of the foremost boat, shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, is disposed at such a distance in rear of the bow of the boat that it is not in the path of the jet of water. However, when the third boat comes along and pushes the two boats forward, said forward fin then comes into such a position that the jet of water impinges against the rear face of the fin and thus pushes the boat forwardly until itis entirely, within. the flowing stream of water and it then continues on its course along the waterway or trough.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that applicant's toy includes a waterway in the form of a circuit so that boats or floats may travel therein repeatedly around the circuit.

The waterway is in the form of a trough containing water on which boats float. The water is caused to travel as a stream continuously along the trough. The means for propelling the water along the trough, suchas a water wheel, pump or equivalent, is located in a by-pass into one end of which water is drawn from the trough and from the opposite end' of which water is discharged back into the trough, whereby the trough is continuous "and unobstructed, and a relatively still or quiescent body or portion of water is maintained in the waterway and on which boats or floats come to a stop in the manner explained, so as to imitate the stopping of boats for the admission of passengers as in full size amusement devices of this same general character.

Having described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In an aquatic toy; the combination of an endless trough forming a continuous waterway, a by-pass connected at opposite ends to the trough, a water circulating pump in the by-pass, a quiescent body of water being formed in the trough portion between the opposite ends of the by-pass when the trough contains water and the pump is in operation, the trough portion between opposite ends of the by-pass being free and unobstructed to the free floating of floats therethrough, and means for directing the discharge of water from the by-pass obliquely across the trough and forwardly from the by-Dass, and at least three floats, the combined length of two floats being less than the length of the waterway portion between the ends of the by-pass whereby two boats may remain stationary in said portion of the waterway, the combined length of three floats being substantially equal to the length of the waterway portion between the ends of the by-pass whereby a third, float under the influence of water circulating in the waterway may push said two floats forwardly and bring the floats successively into'the influence of water discharging from the by-pass.

2. In an aquatic toy, the combination of an endless trough forming a continuous waterway, a by-pass connected at opposite ends to the trough; a water circulating pump in the by-pass, a quiescent body of water being formed in the trough portion. between. the opposite ends of the by-pass when the trough contains Water and the pump is in operation, the. trough portion between opposite ends of the by-pass being free and unobstructed to the free floating of floats therethrough, and means for directing the discharge of water from the by-pass obliquely across the trough and forwardly from the by-pass, and at least three floats, each float having a forward transverse fin and a transverse stern fin, the combined length of two floats being less than the length of the Waterway portion between the ends 5 6 of the by-pass whereby two boats may remain REFERENCES CITED Stationary in Said portim of the Waterway the The following references are of record in the,

combined length of three floats being substanm of thi t tially equal to the length of the waterway portion e S pa 6 between the ends of the by-pass whereby a third 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS float under the influence of water circulating in Number Name Date the waterway may push said two floats forwardly 664,179 Schofield Dec. 18, 1900 and bring the fins of the floats successively into 689,114 Pape Dec. 17, 1901 the influence of water discharging from the by- 728,303 Roltair May 19, 1903 pass. 10 728,894 Folks May 26, 1903 CHARLES E. SNOWDEN. 1,368,671 Watson Feb. 15, 1921 1,865,985 Wheeler July 5, 1932 

